Syria's PA Arabs Executed, Aleppo's Main Square Ripped in Blast

Syrian Army soldiers are reportedly aiming heavy artillery at Palestinian Authority Arab camps, and “executing” Arab men in others.

By Chana Ya'ar

First Publish: 10/3/2012, 2:51 PM

Four lethal blasts rip through Aleppo's main square

Reuters/SANA

Syrian Army soldiers are reportedly aiming heavy artillery at Palestinian Authority Arab camps, and “executing” Arab men in others. The Bethlehem-based Ma'an news agency quoted the Damascus-based coordinating committee of the Yarmouk refugee camp, who said Wednesday that 20 PA Arabs in the Dera'a camp were killed.

Dozens of others were wounded in heavy bombing by the Syrian army, the group said, adding it was nearly impossible to help the wounded due to the danger. According to sources quoted by Ma'an, the Syrian army has been shelling streets near the camp's mosque, and “the stench of decaying bodies fills the streets.”

Four bodies found last week on the street apparently killed at a security checkpoint near Aleppo showed signs of professional execution, according to the Yarmouk committee. Two others were found shot dead in their Damascus homes. At least 18 other PA Arabs were killed and their bodies displayed publicly in Damascus on September 20, according to PLO officials in Yarmouk, Ma'an reported.

Aleppo, a major commercial hub in the north, was the scene of four deadly blasts on Wednesday in the city's main Sa'adallah al-Jabari Square. Syria's national news agency SANA reported the explosions ripped through a government-controlled district close to a military officers' club in the city, killing at least 40 people and wounding more than 90, quoting opposition activists.

More than 30,000 people have been killed in the civil war that began in March 2011, according to activists and United Nations human rights aid agencies.